Ármann Þorvaldsson (born in Reykjavík in 1968) was an Icelandic badminton player and was the UK CEO of

Kaupthing Bank Kaupthing Bank ( is, Kaupþing banki; ) was a major international Icelandic bank, headquartered in Reykjavík, Iceland. It was taken over by the Icelandic government during the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis and the domestic Icelandic ...

at the time of its collapse in 2008.

Early life

Ármann graduated from

Fjölbrautaskólinn í Breiðholti Fjölbrautaskólinn í Breiðholti (The polytechnic school in Breiðholt) is an Icelandic higher educational institute and gymnasium. Founded in 1975, the school currently has a student population of around 2800 people divided between about 1 ...

in 1989, taking a BA in history from the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( is, Háskóli Íslands ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' s ...

in 1992 and an MBA at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

in 1994. He married Þórdís Edwald; both played badminton at an international level.

Banking career

In 1994, Ármann joined the Icelandic company

Kaupthing Kaupthing Bank ( is, Kaupþing banki; ) was a major international Icelandic bank, headquartered in Reykjavík, Iceland. It was taken over by the Icelandic government during the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis and the domestic Icelandic ...

as Director of Planning and Budgeting, subsequently serving as managing director of investment banking from 1997 to 2005. He became a director of Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander Group PLC on 26 July 2005, and on 25 October 2005 he became CEO of Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander Group PLC (formerly, Singer & Friedlander Group PLC) at Kaupthing Bank hf. After the collapse of Kaupþing, Ármann wrote an autobiographical account of Iceland's boom and the

2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis The Icelandic financial crisis was a major economic and political event in Iceland that involved the default of all three of the country's major privately owned commercial banks in late 2008, following their difficulties in refinancing their ...

which was intended as a defence of his role and his colleagues'. While Ármann was investigated by the UK's Serious Fraud Office following Kaupþing's collapse, he was not charged. The UK's Financial Services Authority 'said it had not found any regulatory breaches against' Ármann. Ármann became CEO of Kvika banki in June 2017. In May 2019, it was announced that he'd become deputy CEO.

Badminton career

Ármann won the Icelandic National Badminton Championships in the men's doubles event in 1988 and 1989. He clinched the

Iceland International The Iceland International in badminton is an international open held in Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Eu ...

tournament partnered with Þorsteinn Páll Hængsson in 1991."Iceland"
Badmintonsamband Íslands, 26 January 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorvaldsson, Armann Armann Thorvaldsson Armann Thorvaldsson Living people 1968 births Armann Thorvaldsson Armann Thorvaldsson